Chapter 57

Lumi

Theo’s small, pale fingers stayed hooked weakly around Ren’s thick, tattooed wrist for a few more minutes.

I was surprised that he hadn’t asked for Callum or Sienna for once. Which meant one thing, they were never there for him.

Because why would your child not ask about you in a whole day.

The heavy hospital sedative finally won, his tiny eyelids fluttering shut before his breathing smoothed out into a deep, quiet rhythm against the stiff white sheets.

The second he was fully under, Neve stepped forward from the corner of the room.

The heavy, emotional look we had shared out in the hallway was completely locked away, replaced by her usual stubborn, bossy sister routine. She looked at the dark circles under my eyes, then shot a pointed look at her brother.

"What did you eat today?" I tried to get an answer but nothing came.

"Uhm..." She stared at me with a raised brow.

"Right, both of you out. Now." Her voice low but fierce as she pointed a finger toward the door. "You both need to eat something." I actually wasn’t hungry.

Which lady would feel hungry in my situation? Right, no one.

"Neve, really, I’m fine," I muttered, my fingers still resting on the metal guard rail of the bed. "I can just stay until he wakes up..."

"You’re not fine, Lumi. You’ve not eaten for more than twenty four hours." Neve interrupted, peeling my hands off the rail and giving me a firm push toward the exit.

"But your babe went to get something right? I’m sure he’d get for both I and Ren." I tried to make her see reasons but of course she’ll always be Neve.

"Ren, take her. Get food, get some air, do whatever you have to do to stop her from running herself ragged for at least an hour. Go."

Before I could even gather my bag, Neve practically threw me out into the corridor, the heavy wooden door clicking shut right in my face.

I stood there, staring at the door, feeling completely useless. A heavy sigh escaped my lips, my shoulders slumping as I slowly turned around to face Ren.

He was already standing there, his leather jacket slung casually over one broad shoulder, those sharp green eyes tracking the faint, stubborn flush that still hadn’t left my cheeks.

We hadn’t spoken a single word about the kiss. We acted like it didn’t exist. We were just Ren and Lumi, the quiet younger brother and the best friend.

But the suffocating, thick awareness humming between us in the narrow hallway said otherwise. It felt like a big elephant in the room.

"Come on," Ren murmured, his voice rough. "Let’s get out of here." He guided me down to the car parked in the lower lot.

The ride started out entirely silent, the quiet purr of the engine the only thing filling the cabin as he navigated us out of the clinic gates and into the thick of the London traffic.

Suddenly, the sharp, piercing ring of Ren’s phone shattered the quiet.

He tapped the steering wheel to answer the Bluetooth call. The moment a tense voice on the other end started speaking, Ren’s entire demeanor shifted.

I couldn’t make out the words, but I watched his jaw lock, a dark, dangerous shadow pulling across his features.

The easy, relaxed posture he always kept around me vanished, replaced by a rigid, lethal tension that made the car feel instantly smaller.

"I told you to handle that discrepancy before the shipment cleared the docks," Ren growled into the receiver.

His voice dropped into a low, terrifying tone that sent a genuine shiver straight down my spine.

He listened for another second, his fingers gripping the leather steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned a stark white.

"Fine. I’m on my way."

He cut the call, the silence crashing back into the car like a block of concrete. He flicked his eyes over to me, his expression incredibly tight.

"Lumi, something came up that I urgently need to take care of," he said, his tone clipped as he checked his mirrors.

"Do you want me to drop you at the hospital or the hotel?" I frowned, turning fully in my seat to look at him.

This man had been standing like a brick wall between me and the world all day. He’d broken Callum’s enforcers and held my hand through the worst of it. What was a few minutes of my time compared to everything he was risking?

"No," I said, my voice steady and unyielding. "Don’t drop me off. I’m coming with you. I really don’t mind." I didn’t care how long he took, I knew I wasn’t going to leave him alone.

What if something happens to him on his way back. God forbid.

His eyes flicked to me, a flash of genuine surprise crossing his face before his brow furrowed.

He looked like he wanted to argue, his lips parting to order me to go back to the hotel, but I held his gaze, refusing to give an inch.

He must have read the absolute finality in my eyes, because with a tight clench of his jaw, he jerked the steering wheel sharply to the left, taking us down a completely different route.

Ten minutes later, the car slowed down as we pulled through a set of massive, heavily guarded iron gates in the city’s industrial district.

I blinked, leaning forward against the dashboard in total confusion. This wasn’t some back-alley garage or a sketchy warehouse. It was a massive, ultra-modern corporate facility.

The glass building gleamed under the heavy gray sky, and towering logos of high-end, custom-modified motorcycles and cutting-edge engineering lined the pristine driveway.

"A bike dealership?" I muttered, looking over at him, completely lost. "Ren, what are we doing here?"

The dark, lethal tension on his face softened by just a fraction, a faint, fleeting trace of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"I need to meet up with a friend, I promise not to waste your time ."

He killed the engine, stepped out into the crisp air, and walked around to my side, opening the door for me with that easy, predatory grace.

I stepped down, my eyes wide as I took in the sight of the place. It was absolutely massive...the kind of corporate empire that required hundreds of millions of pounds just to build, let alone maintain.

The moment our feet hit the polished concrete of the main entrance, a man in a sharp, expensive designer suit came rushing toward us from the glass showroom.

I instinctively braced myself, expecting security or a confrontation, but the moment the executive reached us, he stopped dead in his tracks. He closed his eyes, lowered his shoulders, and bowed deeply.

Not to me. To Ren.

My mouth literally fell open. I stared between the bowing executive and the heavily tattooed man standing beside me in a worn leather jacket.

Ren didn’t even blink. He acted like the gesture was the most normal thing in the world, his green eyes turning ice-cold and authoritative as he gave the man a short, dismissive nod.

"Where are they?" Ren demanded, his voice echoing with absolute, effortless dominance through the high-ceilinged lobby.

"They’re in the 20th floor, sir. All complete." the executive murmured, his voice actually trembling with a deep, submissive respect.

I couldn’t even process the words. My mind was reeling as my eyes swept across the breathtaking, multi-million-pound showroom.

The person who owns this place must be filthy, ungodly rich, I thought, a sudden, cold sweat breaking out on the back of my neck.

I looked at Ren, my throat completely dry. How did a biker from the US pack territory know someone this powerful? This wasn’t just any company.

As my eyes locked onto the sleek, silver branding etched into the glass walls, the truth hit me like a physical blow to the stomach.

This was the company. It belongs to Callum’s fiercest, most brutal rival.

For three long years, Callum had lost sleep over this specific empire. No one in London knew who the true owner was, the media only ever referred to him as a ruthless billionaire who operated entirely from the shadows.

It had started a few months after our wedding and Callum wouldn’t stop saying he felt the owner was after him.

So, he had tried absolutely everything to sabotage them, to leak their designs, to ruin their supply lines, but the anonymous owner was always ten steps ahead, systematically crushing every single trap Callum laid out until Callum simply gave up out of purre fear.

I stared at Ren’s sharp profile, my heart beginning to hammer violently against my ribs as a wild, impossible realization began to take shape in my head.

Maybe he just does security or underground racing for the owner.

But as the suit-clad executive kept his head bowed, completely terrified to even breathe until he gave him permission.

Why was he here? Does he want to ask for an alliance?